


Dream

by Yobotica



Series: It's not the destination, it's the journey [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 16:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17004723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yobotica/pseuds/Yobotica
Summary: For the Assassin's Creed Fandom Event 2018 prompt Day 1: Favorite In-Game Detail//CanonverseThis is the first part of a series dedicated to Desmond Miles.A moment taken to take a closer look at Shaun's workstation in Monteriggioni.





	Dream

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I forgot this in my first entry for this week, but this was beta'd by the wonderful [Caisar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caisar). Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Desmond groaned as he rolled out of the Animus chair. His back and hips protested until they popped, and his muscles were both sore and stiff in a way he'd never experienced before the Animus. 

Frankly, it kind of sucked. But, it was important to do this, so he would. It would be fine once the Bleeding Effect ran its course, even if it felt kind of awful all the time now. 

He cleared his throat and checked the area; Lucy wasn't present, Rebecca was likely doing the finalizing on all the files the Animus recorded or whatever, bopping her head to music only she could hear in her headphones. 

Shaun wasn't in sight, but that could mean anything, honestly. Desmond grabbed one of the 'post-Animus' snack boxes they made up for him, usually veggies and maybe some jerky, if he was lucky. Oh, that and a kid's juice box, likely courtesy of Shaun. 

Desmond didn't really understand why the guy was such a dick to him all the time. For whatever reason, they hadn't gotten off on the right foot, though Desmond couldn't think of anything he'd said or done that had offended the man. Just, from the word go, there had been this animosity. 

He'd chilled out a bit after the move, sure, but... Well. Rebecca said he was prickly like that, and to give him time. 

Desmond wasn't entirely sure he wanted to, but something told him if he could just stick it out, there was something there worth finding. He hadn't decided yet if he would, but since they were all basically trapped here in Monteriggioni together, he might as well make the best of it. 

He usually wandered after his sessions, just to get his muscles warmed up again - or cooled down, depending on what he'd been doing. He'd learned to try and disconnect during downtime, but it wasn't always possible.

He wandered over by Shaun's station, and since the man wasn't around, spent some time just looking at the pictures and articles posted behind his computer. There were structures and people he didn't recognize. He knew some of them had to be people he hadn't met yet, but Shaun wouldn't say (on Lucy's orders - she'd not seemed pleased at what she saw on the board when Desmond brought it up, and Shaun had been weirdly defensive of it, and come to think of it, he'd been extra chilly to Desmond for the next two days, hadn't he? Huh). 

There were drawings that Desmond knew were Leonardo's; not because he recognized the drawings from Ezio's memories (yet?), but because he recognized the man's work when he saw it. _That_ was from Ezio's memories. 

Desmond hoped he - or rather, Ezio - got to meet him again, but honestly, he couldn't see how that would happen in Rome. 

There were a few scrawled notes Shaun had taken and taped up haphazardly to his wall - Desmond would bet money that Shaun had already forgotten they were there, or no longer needed them, and yet, was just too busy to take them down again. 

For some reason, the thought made Desmond smile.

Something was different this time - sometimes Desmond liked to make it a game, to see if he could figure out what Shaun had changed since Desmond had been out - asleep or in the Animus, since Shaun kept the oddest hours out of all of them. 

It took him a moment, because what had changed wasn't a picture on his wall or new notes or anything like that. It wasn't on the wall at all. 

It was Shaun's screensaver. It used to be a photo of a place Desmond didn't recognize off the bat, but now it was one Desmond knew quite well, since it had come from an Animus session.

Desmond remembered it well because he tried to remember the more peaceful moments in Ezio's life, when he had them. Ezio hadn't really done much of that in his youth, though he tended to take a moment or two when he could, these days. Those days. Whatever. 

The picture was of Firenze, and it wasn't quite like the Animus footage usually was - this had been cleaned up somehow, processed with photoshop or something. It certainly looked like a photo, only Desmond knew that place, knew that time. 

That place didn't even exist anymore. 

The picture was basically a sunset. Nothing really special about it, except that this particular view had only been seen by people living hundreds of years ago - and even then, certainly not by many, given how few people were inclined to roam rooftops. 

The sky was cast a soft orange, fading into magenta, then pastel purples fading into the pre-twilight dark at the very edge of the frame. The tiled rooftops were gilded with the last rays of the sun. There were no people in sight; it appeared Shaun had used the first-person viewpoint for the image (a view they rarely used, even though they recorded it, because, as Rebecca put it, it was mostly boring and sometimes really disorienting for the viewers outside the Animus). 

But Desmond knew Firenze like the back of his hand. He knew exactly where Ezio had been when that image was taken, and sure enough, just in the corner was a view of Leonard's workshop. The man himself wasn't in sight, but Ezio had often returned to the area even if he didn't have immediate business there, since it made him feel both safer and productive, like he was checking up on Leonardo to make sure he was okay. 

Desmond knew there was no way Shaun had missed that detail - and wondered if it hadn't been a factor in Shaun's decision to use the image as his screensaver. He was loudly, and unapologetically, a huge fan of Leonardo, and lamented that Desmond's ancestor had of course been the one to meet him. 

Desmond smiled. Shaun was a dick most of the time, but it was still nice to see things like this, things that proved he was more than just the sarcastic asshole he was when he was around Desmond. 

(Rebecca said he was always a sarcastic asshole, but if he liked you, at least he'd be less of an unrepentant dick about it.) 

Desmond's smile fell slightly at the reminder that Shaun just didn't like him all that much. Sometimes, it felt like he'd actually offended Shaun somehow, but he couldn't remember anything he might have done to the man. 

A glance at his wall showed that Shaun was a hard worker. The insight and humor in the database entries showed a sharp, funny man that Desmond had only barely seen outside of the Animus. 

Maybe it was dumb, but he really did want to get to know him better. Maybe he could start with an apology of some kind. 

Rebecca cleared her throat and tapped her watch, which meant his break was over, and it was time to go be Ezio again. He shook out his muscles and nodded, glancing back at the screensaver, to keep the image in mind. 

Maybe it would carry over, and bring some comfort to Ezio, too.


End file.
